In the latest battle over access to medicines, an Indonesian court recently struck down a provision in a law that allowed so-called patent evergreening, a tactic used by drugmakers to file additional patents containing minor tweaks to existing medicines and, ultimately, forestall competition.
The decision, patient advocates say, sends an important message to other countries to challenge the industry practice.
The Constitutional Court ruled that a two-year-old amendment to a law, which had removed a prohibition on evergreening, was unconstitutional after deciding the original restriction is needed to balance the rights of patent holders with the broader public interest, particularly public health. The case had been brought by several patients and advocacy groups.
